Nokia has filed legal claims in the USA and Germany alleging that products from HTC, RIM and Viewsonic infringe a number of its patents.

The legal action includes a complaint to the US International Trade Commission against HTC, patent cases against HTC and Viewsonic in the USA, and court cases against all three companies in Germany.

In a couple of deals that echo Microsoft’s agreement with HTC in April 2010, the software giant has come to separate agreements with Acer and ViewSonic.

In Acer’s case, the two companies have “executed a patent license agreement that includes broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for Acer’s tablets and smartphones running the Android platform” - and with ViewSonic they’ve “signed a patent agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for ViewSonic’s tablets and mobile phones running the Android or Chrome Platform”.

HTC has bought a number of patent from Google in a bid to strengthen its legal case against Apple.

It’s amended its US International Trade Commission complaint, it’s amended a similar US legal case and has filed a new case as well.

ViewSonic Europe has announced a 'try for free' promotional offer that enables customers to return their ViewPad 7 tablet if they're not completely satisfied.

Dissatisfied customers are given 20 days to experience the 7-inch Android tablet; they then need to return the device within a 10-day window (i.e. within 30 days from the date on their invoice) for a full refund.

Mark Bridge and James Rosewell prepare for day four of Mobile World Congress with a 45-minute podcast that looks at recent developments involving the MeeGo and webOS mobile platforms. What’s the future for Intel and HP?

There’s also an interview with James Coulson,  European Marketing Manager at ViewSonic, and a chat about Motorola’s Xoom and Atrix devices as well.

Mark Bridge writes:

There are bad weeks... and there are BAD weeks. Blackberry had one of the latter. It all started so well. The company announced a new flagship phablet – the Z30 – and said it would be launching its BBM instant messaging service for iOS and Android handsets at the weekend.

Mark Bridge writes:

iPhone, iPhone. Two of ‘em, one dearer than the other but neither especially cheap. One with a 64-bit look-at-me-I’m-fast processor, the other much like an iPhone 5 with a coloured rear panel.

Mark Bridge writes:

Following Wednesday’s ‘State of the Union’ speech by EC President Jose Manuel Barroso, EC Vice-President Neelie Kroes has emphasised the urgency of changing the way telecoms companies operate across Europe.

Ms Kroes wants to cut red tape, end roaming charges, reduce call costs and introduce ‘net neutrality’ across Europe.

Mark Bridge writes:

So – we take a short break at the end of the August ‘silly season’ and one of the year’s biggest mobile-related rumours becomes fact. At least we’re back in time to report on the final stages of the Vodafone/Verizon deal. Yes, it looks as though Big Red will be picking up something like $130 billion for its 45% stake in Verizon Communications… possibly within the next few hours. Just don’t mention the tax, okay?

Mark Bridge writes:

In this week’s podcast we talked about a recent European study into call costs that had been highlighted by European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes.

We agreed the headline was shocking - but also said there were potentially many other tariff factors that weren’t being compared.

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return to review their mobile industry predictions from last year. Which mergers, partnerships and developments did they forecast correctly... and which didn’t work out as planned?

Later in the programme, the team anticipates some of the topics that will be hitting the headlines during 2016.

Mark Bridge learns about the mobile technology trends at Mobile World Congress 2015 by chatting to James Rosewell of 51Degrees, Dr Kevin Curran from the IEEE and Chris Millington of Doro.

They talk about wearable devices, wireless charging, mobile operating systems and much more... including some of their favourite products from the exhibition.

We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

We also talk about the planned BT and EE merger, the creation of two new UK virtual networks, some acquisitions in the mobile payment arena and a new Ubuntu smartphone.

In today's programme Mark Bridge talks to Chris Millington, who's Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland.

They discuss the state of mobile retailing in the UK, the future of wearable devices and - as you might expect - smartphones for seniors.

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.